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Saturday, December 19, 2015

Contemporary Reviews

This review is actually a review that is old but i figured I would put it up. At first, I was hesitant going into this book because of the hype it was getting and I didn't want to be let down with high expectations. I was surprised. This book was amazing. I loved everything about it. I loved Anna as a character,she was great at learning from her mistakes and accepting that sometimes friendship is the most powerful way of connecting with someone. The friendship between Anna and St Clair was beautiful. I loved that they really got to know each other and became best friends. I will say i think the only thing I didn't like was that both Anna and St Clair were indecisive especially st Clair throughout most of the book. Throughout the book St Clair has a girlfriend while he's hanging out with Anna. I admire Anna because there was one scene where St. Claire was drunk and she tells his friends to call his girlfriend. While this scene is happening, St. Clair admits that he likes Anna. Anna lies to him when he asked if he said anything weird to her to protect their friendship. This book had great quotes and the character development was incredible. I rated this book 5 stars.

I loved the characters and the plot was similar to Anna. Now, the character of Lola she made me love her in the first part and hate her in the second part. However, she does redeem herself in the end.I loved her parents they added humor into the story. Her best friend Lindsay was great,I adored her because of her idols being Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew. The Bell twins were great, I loved Cricket and Calliope both because they each had their own flaws and insecurities. The only things I didn't like were Lola's outfits I mean I understand that she's expressing herself, but they never say how these outfits make her feel about herself or why she needs to wear then.the other thing was Lola leading both cricket and max on even though max was her bf, she should have been honest with him instead of lying to him.Plus, they could have done a better way of getting rid of him, of course the break up was inevitable.

This book was ok. I didn't love it as much as Anna or Lola. The characters felt flat at some parts. One of the themes of the book is identity but I felt that I didn't really know who Isla was. She likes comic books, has an obsessive crush on Josh for three years, and likes to read adventure books. Other than that, nothing else was known unless a supporting character points it out to her. I think i learned more about Josh in the book than Isla. I didn't like the way the relationship was portrayed. It made Isla seem likes those girls that put their boyfriend before anyone and that's what Isla did. In one scene, she chooses to hang out with Josh instead of Kurt who hasn't seen Isla that much since she started dating Josh. Another scene, Kurt and Isla are talking about colleges and Isla says that she's thinking of Daramouth. Kurt than asks what about the other two schools that she wanted and she was throwing everything she worked for. Her grades were slipping and the Barcelona trip was when I didn't like her the most. Both Josh and Isla were impulsive from the beginning, instead of facing the consequences of their own actions because it was something that they both decided well josh more than Isla, she blames it on Kurt and her sister. I thought that Josh was going to be a fling and then she would find someone else. I think the ending would have been better if they have stayed broken up and Isla worked on her self-esteem issues. At times, i felt that they were there just for the sake of being there, being insecure in her relationship when Josh was constantly showing her that he did care for her. The relationship felt very co-dependent in my opinion. There was one scene where Josh is not going to be in school because of the trip and he breaks down crying. I'm sorry but that was melodramatic. It's not like they wouldn't talk at all. There are phones, letters, emails, text messages, skype. I find it hard to believe that they would not be able to talk to each other. That's my review. i have this book 3 stars.